Inside the fire scene in Guryong Village
Only rubble remains at the site
107 residents displaced by the blaze
Guryong Middle, Gaepo Middle schools serve as shelters
'I couldn't save a single thing,' residents say
A massive fire tore through Guryong Village — Seoul's last remaining shantytown, in Gangnam-gu — displacing 107 residents across 77 households before firefighters brought it under control after 12 hours and 50 minutes. Residents who lost their homes took shelter at a temporary evacuation center set up at a nearby middle school. Police and fire authorities were set to begin preliminary work Wednesday for an on-site investigation.
Around 8:30 a.m. Wednesday, displaced residents gathered outside the evacuation shelter in Gaepo-dong, Gangnam-gu, where the fire had broken out Tuesday. Behind them, the few structures still standing in the fire zone were blackened husks, and even the large trees nearest the blaze had been scorched dark on the side facing the heat.
Residents huddled around space heaters, wrapped in winter coats and seated on mats spread across the floor. They talked among themselves about which homes in the fire zone had burned to the ground and where they could register as affected households.
Lee Gang-il, 62, chairman of the Guryong Land Residents' Council, said he had not managed to save a single belonging. Flapping the thin jacket he was wearing, he said, "This is all I have." He added that fear had kept him from going to the shelter. "I was afraid that if I left my spot because my house burned down, I'd be pushed out entirely," he said. "I had nowhere to sleep, so I just stayed up through the night."
Another resident, who asked not to be identified, said that even shack dwellers could have gold rings or other valuables inside. "They wouldn't let us back in even before the fire had spread that far," the resident said. "I couldn't bring out a single thing."
The resident also questioned how the fire started. "The house where they say it began had been empty for a long time," the resident said. "When a resident moves out, the electricity gets cut off right away, so there's no reason for an empty house to catch fire."
A man in his 60s surnamed Bae, who said his home was completely destroyed, criticized the fire response. "The fire trucks came Tuesday, but they said there was no water and didn't fight the fire," he said. "It was only when the flames looked like they might spread to the mountain that the fire helicopter finally showed up. It wasn't as if we wanted the whole village to burn — it was agonizing just to stand there and watch."
The fire broke out at around 3:49 p.m. Tuesday, and 39 residents evacuated on their own. In all, 107 people from 77 households in districts 1, 2 and 3 of Guryong Village were affected. Gangnam-gu set up temporary shelters at the gymnasiums of Gaepo Middle School and Guryong Middle School, as well as at nearby lodging facilities, to support displaced residents.
By 8:30 a.m. Wednesday, the third floor of the Gaepo Middle School gymnasium, converted into a shelter, was stacked with boxes of relief supplies — instant cup noodles, blankets and clothing. Residents who had just woken up crowded the hallways looking for restrooms. Small groups gathered to eat cup noodles to stave off hunger. At a phone-charging station set up in one corner of the shelter, residents clustered together waiting for their devices to power back up.
Han Yeong-ae, 80, whose home burned down entirely, said, "My whole house is gone." She had been out for a gathering Tuesday and was on her way back when someone told her the village was on fire. She was still wearing the same clothes she had on when she left the house that day, with only her phone in hand.
Not all of those at the shelter had lost their homes to the fire directly. Jang Wan-sik, 66, said he had relocated to the shelter after his electricity and water supply were cut off.
Jang said he had acted quickly once the fire broke out Tuesday. "I filled a large rubber tub at home with water just in case," he said. "And since I didn't know what might happen next, I moved all my clothes to my car to be prepared."
From Wednesday morning, the Suseo Police Station, Gangnam Fire Station and the Korea Electrical Safety Corporation launched a first joint on-site investigation into the Guryong Village fire.
Guryong Village was formed by residents displaced during the urban development of Gangnam and other parts of Seoul in the 1970s and 1980s. Designated as an urban development zone roughly a decade ago, it has been subject to a redevelopment project led by the Seoul Housing & Communities Corporation (SH). Residents have been relocating since last year, and according to the Seoul Metropolitan Government, about 150 households remained in the village as of last month.
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